Improvement in clasps for holding garments



UNITED I STATES PATENT- OFFIcE.

ALEXANDER L. FYFE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLASPS FOR HOLDING GARMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,556., dated October 24, 1876; application filed September 27, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER L. FYFE, of Alde'rsgate street, in the city of London, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in. Ladies Dress-Suspenders and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved construction of ladies dress-suspender, by which the dress is more'securely held than by these articles as at present made. According to my invention, the suspender is adapted to be attached to a chain provided with a hook for attachment to the waistband; and consists of a spring-clip 0t peculiar construction, by which the dress is held. This clip consists of a pair of jaws, cupped or hollowed, and having the one a spring pad or cushion which fits in the hollow of the other, and thus securely retains the dress. The said pad or cushion consists of a disk of metal, cupped or hollowed, with a spiral spring behind it, and is fitted in the hollow of one of the jaws, as above mentioned.

The jaws are provided with a runner, so formed as to embrace and compress them firmly together at the point where the dress is held. The runner may be of any desired form, and the back of the jaws may be corrugated or roughened transversely to ornament them, and at same time retain the runner. more securely in position.

Figure 1 shows a front view of my improved clip or suspender; Fig. 2, a vertical section through the spring-jaws, showing the same in the open position; and Fig. 3, a similar view of the jaws as closed to hold the dress.

A B are the two jaws, of circular, oval, or other suitable form in face view. These jaws are attached to a wire spring-shank, G, which is coiled into a loop at 1), serving to attach it to a chain, and to impart the necessary elasticity to theshank to make the jaws A B spring open when released. Each jaw A B is made of thin metal, stamped up in the cupped made of thin metal, cupped or hollowed, as shown,.and held in place by the spiral spring F behind it, which is attached at one end to the jaw B, and at the other to the pad E. This pad is received in the hollow of the jaw B, as shown, and serves, when the jaws are closed on the dress, to press the latter into the hollow of the jaw A, so as to hold the dress securely, but with an elastic pressure, to avoid injury to the dress.

The surface of the pad E may be corrugated or roughened to assist in holding the dress. G is a runner sliding on the shank C, and formed so as to embrace the jaws A B, as shown, and press them firmly together when slid down to the position shown in Fig. 3, the jaws being thus compressed directly opposite the point where the dress is held.

The runneris made of metal, and may 0011-- sist of a body part, G, slotted to slide on the shank O, and formed in one piece with two rigid jaws, G G, which embrace the back of the spring-jaws A B, as shown. The latter may have their-outer surface corrugated transversely, as shown in Fig. l, to prevent the jaws G G from accidentally slipping ofi".

Having thus described my inveution what I claim as new is A ladys dresssuspender, consisting of a pair of cupped jaws, A B, provided with an internal spring pad or cushion, and attached to a spring-shank, in combination with a'i'unner, adapted to embrace the back of the jaws and hold them together, substantially as shown and described. 7

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 18th day of August, one thousand eight hundred and seventysix.

ALEXANDER LESLIE FYFE.

Witnesses:

WM. CLARK, J. J. WILsON. 

